A recent UK Government report confirms that reduced-risk products are substantially less harmful than continuing to smoke.
This consideration emerges from the recent update of the evidence on nicotine vaping in England, commissioned by the English Government, through the Office for Improvement and Disparities in Health of the Department of Health and Social Care and carried out by scientists from the King’s College London together with a group of renowned international collaborators.
Commenting on the report, commissioned by the UK Department of Health and Social Care’s Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, Caitlin Notley, Professor of Addiction Sciences, Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, said “Reassuringly, the evidence shows that people who switch from smoking to vaping are exposed to fewer toxic chemicals that can cause illness later in life.”
as picked up Science Media Centerfor his part Dr. Lion Shahab, said that this latest report on nicotine vaping is by far the most rigorous, comprehensive and up-to-date work on this topic ever published in the UK.
According to the also Professor of Health Psychology and Co-Director of the Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group, University College London, This report confirms the findings of previous reviews in this area that vaping is far less harmful than smoking, based on a summary assessment of numerous studies of vaping’s likely health impact. “By implication, this should reassure health services and policy makers that encouraging smokers who are unable to quit to switch to these reduced-harm products will benefit population health.”
Dr. Shahab adds that it’s important to ensure that adult smokers get the right support, including providing accurate information about the reduced risk of vaping and how it can help them quit, while also offering educational material to young people. they would never have smoked to deter them from starting to vape, plus better sell age enforcement and advertising restrictions. If this balance can be struck, e-cigarettes could play a significant role in sending smoking cigarettes into the history books in the UK.
“In vapers, the chemicals responsible for smoking-related deaths and illnesses are either completely absent or present at much lower levels, often similar to levels found in non-smokers,” said Professor Peter Hayek, Director of the Tobacco Dependence Research Unit at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL).
For his part, Professor Jacob George, Chair of Cardiovascular Medicine and Therapeutics at the University of Dundee Medical School, details that smoking damages blood vessels causing narrowing and stiffness, resulting in high blood pressure, heart disease and accidents. cerebrovascular; Vaporizers may contain some potentially harmful substances, such as flavorings, but in comparative terms, vaporizers have far fewer harmful toxins compared to smoking. More research is urgently needed to assess the long-term impact of vaping on health.”
